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[HPsauce]

LED technology has changed a lot in a short time.
The most recent ones I've seen (and used) are called SMD types, sometimes 5050 (because the original chip they are cut from is 50mm square apparently!) and are flat and yellow when unlit.
They can be very bright and a good colour, though maybe almost too white for night-time room lighting.
Excellent for in-car courtesy lighting though and numberplate lights.

My exterior floodlight has an emitter about 10mm square, is a nominal 10W and supposedly equivalent to a 100W linear halogen.
I'd say that was somewhat optimistic, but it's pretty good and really very white.
The floodlight actually runs at 12V but has a built-in "transformer/rectifier" so it runs directly off AC mains.
In my case, mostly for convenience and ease of installation (running the wiring and where I needed to make connections), I actually took that block of electronics out and located it (inside a suitable housing) inside the house, running just a 12V supply to the light outside.

[sevenlayermuddle]

The candle bulbs are a smidgen whiter than I personally would like, but other people have commented that they actually prefer them that way.

[silversurfer44]

Thank you 7LM, this old slow dim wit understands now. 
I have a few of those auto light up ones dotted about my house, on the stairs etc. Battery powered by three AAA batteries. The are not in a glass envelope but have a shiney reflector backing to them. They really are bright.
I'm not sure how long they will last but as yet after two years I have not used a proper light on the staircase. The only downside is they keep going off to quickly.

[sevenlayermuddle]

I have seen the auto light up ones, and am tempted to buy some.  As an aside, they remind me of one of my great 'ideas', appreciated by anybody who lives an an area prone to power cuts, and which may one day make me a vast fortune when I get around to volume manufacture.

It is a bunch of battery-operated LED safety lights which can be nailed to the wall at various places around the home, and which are kept extinguished by the presence of the mains supply - probably by a plug-in RF transmitter that sends regular "I'm here" pulses.  Should the mains supply fail, the pulses stop, and the LEDs illuminate, reducing the chances of 7LM tripping over in the dark and spilling his beer coffee.  Optimisations such as a solar panel could trickle charge the LEDs whilst dormant, and prevent the RF receivers from draining the batteries.

If anybody wishes to take this idea and rush off to Dragons Den then go ahead, though I would appreciate some free samples.

Or does anybody already make such a device?

[HPsauce]

Emergency lights pretty much do that.
http://www.discountfiresupplies.co.uk/product/134/172/8W-Non-Maintained-Bulkhead-Emergency-Light?

Here's an LED replacement bulb.  http://www.discountfiresupplies.co.uk/product/288/182/LED-Retrofit-Emergency-Light-Replacement?

[roseway]

...and so 7LM's dreams of riches bite the dust.

[sevenlayermuddle]

...and so 7LM's dreams of riches bite the dust.

Not quite, these devices are big and bulky and need a mains supply.  My brainchild allows the LED units to be small, compact and battery operated, and positioned anywhere at all around the home, or even outside the home.

But I do realise that I probably shouldn't be relying on this idea alone for sole retirement income. 

[silversurfer44]

Now, if you can come up with a way of attaching these lights to just about any surface, without drilling holes or anything like then you may be on to a winner.
Don't forget however you attach the device must be robust, but not permanent. Also one must be able to remove the unit from the wall or whatever and place it somewhere else, and there must be no sign of where it was placed before i.e. white marks, black marks etc.
Not much to ask is it?

[sevenlayermuddle]

Now, if you can come up with a way of attaching these lights to just about any surface, without drilling holes or anything like then you may be on to a winner.
Don't forget however you attach the device must be robust, but not permanent. Also one must be able to remove the unit from the wall or whatever and place it somewhere else, and there must be no sign of where it was placed before i.e. white marks, black marks etc.
Not much to ask is it?

Well I was planning to just ship each one with a sturdy all purpose masonry nail.  But you're probably right, not yet ready for marketing after all.

[geep]

There was an interesting article about LED light bulbs in my IEE (correction: IET) Magazine last August
 - http://eandt.theiet.org/magazine/2012/08/leading-lights.cfm . I concluded that they ain't there yet.
And those desparing of the lack of good old 100w bulbs - take a look at Screwfix's halogen equivalent:
 - http://www.screwfix.com/p/sylvania-halogen-eco-gls-lamp-bc-1900lm-105w/94129

Cheers,
Peter

[sevenlayermuddle]

As an addendum to this thread, I popped into a Class Ohlson today to buy a few more bulbs.  Good news and bad...

Good... They are discounted, supposedly for another week, at £4.79 vs the £7.99 I was budgeting for.   
Bad... As a result of the discount, the shelves were bare-ish.  I wanted four, but only got two.  Disappointed, and whilst they are available online, delivery is not free.   

I do stress that I sympathise with anybody who's a bit cynical, and I won't promise you'll change your views as I did.   But, if you want  to dip a toe in the water and try out LEDs and have a Class Ohlson nearby,  I honestly think at that price  they are quite good value, and much better performing than some of the 'big brand name' versions. 

http://www.clasohlson.com/uk/LED-Candle-Bulb/Pr182289000

I stress it's the 3W (25W equivalent) that have impressed me, I tried just one of the 2W/15W equivalents which, together with the various CFLs I've tried,  went straight in the bin. in the environmentally friendly recycling facility provided by my local authority, a mere 10 miles round trip.

[silversurfer44]

in the environmentally friendly recycling facility provided by my local authority, a mere 10 miles round trip.

That is highly commendable of you, going all that way with one light bulb. :clap2:

[UncleUB]

in the environmentally friendly recycling facility provided by my local authority, a mere 10 miles round trip.

That is highly commendable of you, going all that way with one light bulb. :clap2:

Yes it is,but surely the pollution from your car travelling to the recycling facility offsets recycling the light bulb 

[silversurfer44]

Not if he goes on a bike, one with pedals that is.

[Bald_Eagle1]

Not if he goes on a bike, one with pedals that is.

Well, it is a re-"cycling" facility after all